On Sunday morning, thousands of revelers gathered in Central London to celebrate the annual Saint Patrick’s Day festival and parade. Patrick may be the patron saint of Ireland, but it’s not so well known that the man mythology claims to have driven the snakes from Irish shores was actually born in Britain. In light of…
Tag: human-rights
I am Ayman and I am a refugee from Syria
Ayman Hirh was a successful marble and granite trader in the Jobar district of Syria’s capital, Damascus, before the escalating political situation in his country drove him and his family into exile. Because of his involvement as an activist in the 2011 uprising and President Al-Assad’s subsequent crackdown on any and all dissent, Ayman was…
Freedom for expression
While on my way to lunch this afternoon, I happened upon this striking mural on Castlehaven Road, Camden. The piece, by London based artist Dale Grimshaw, was created to raise awareness toward the occupation of West Papua by the Indonesian military. Indonesia’s occupation of West Papua has been described by various human rights bodies as…
Christrionics
Finding my way through the begrimed passages that connect the ventricular routes of the London Tube service beneath Piccadilly Circus Station the other day, I happened upon a poster advertising an upcoming open-air reenactment of the trial, torture and death of Christianity’s top rockstar superhero, Jesus H. Christ. The Passion of Jesus, a modern imagining…